The Weather That Changed Us

By ABC listen

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Category: Science

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Subscribers: 44
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Episodes: 16

Description

The podcast Who's Gonna Save Us has changed its name to The Weather That Changed Us Australia experiences all kinds of extreme weather. Cyclones, fires, floods and heat — we see it all. But in the midst of these disasters, it seems we're pretty good at rallying together and making necessary changes. So how have we taken what we've learned in the past to shape the Australia of today and our future? And what are the challenges that climate change will bring? In a year of ever-hotter global temperature records, warnings about ice melting in Antarctica and the northern hemisphere, rapidly developing hurricanes, torrential rain and flooding, it can be hard to understand the ways our weather is changing and intensifying. Everyone is grappling with what it's like to live in a warming world and the consequences we will have to face and survive. In this season we revisit 2009 when a blanket of heat smothered south-eastern Australia, killing hundreds and melting cities. It's the story of how that became a wake-up call for Australia, that we need to change how we manage extreme heat. Fifty years later we learn how Cyclone Tracy decimated the northern city of Darwin on Christmas Day in 1974. But its devastation also led to transformation. Building codes were overhauled changing how we build houses across Australia today. In 1999 a hailstorm like no other came out of nowhere and rained down across Sydney, Australia's most populous city. The hail shattered roofs, windows and cars and all previous insurance bills from natural disasters. It also became a transformative moment for the state's emergency services. In 2003 on a baking hot Canberra day, a phenomenon never before caught on camera was captured unleashing its full power. The first pyro-tornadogenesis, or fire tornado, ever recorded screamed across the Canberra hills and into the suburbs. It also supercharged fire research in Australia and changed our warning systems. For some children, the breaking of the millennium drought was the first time they'd seen rain and puddles. But the decade-long dry spell that covered eastern Australia delivered more than cracked earth — it changed how we thought about and valued water. It also heralded 'star ratings' so we could buy appliances that saved water. For those who lived through them, our past disasters have left deep and lasting change. But they've also left a legacy for us all, from the houses we build to the jobs we do, our politics and the way we live in our world. Join 'The Weather That Changed Us' to learn more about the disasters that shocked, united and rallied Australians and how they can prepare us for the next ones Australia will face.

Episode Date
The Weather That Changed Us | Sydney's 1999 Hailstorm
Dec 15, 2024
The Weather That Changed Us | Millennium Drought
Dec 15, 2024
The Weather That Changed Us | SA's Power Blackout
Dec 15, 2024
The Weather That Changed Us | Heatwave
Dec 08, 2024
The Weather That Changed Us | Cyclone Tracy fifty years on
Dec 08, 2024
The Weather That Changed Us | Canberra's Fire Tornado
Dec 08, 2024
INTRODUCING — The Weather That Changed Us
Dec 01, 2024
Who's Gonna Save Us? 08 | The energy it takes to be extremely online
Oct 24, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 07 | Citizens assemble!
Oct 03, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 06 | Community Power
Sep 26, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 05 | Better Call Saul
Sep 19, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 04 | We fought the law
Sep 12, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 03 | The Switch
Sep 05, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 02 | Scientists on strike
Aug 29, 2022
Who's Gonna Save Us? 01 | Standing up for the climate
Aug 29, 2022
INTRODUCING — Who's Gonna Save Us?
Aug 21, 2022